1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a female coupler attached to a cell container (liquid tank) for a fuel cell mounted in a mobile apparatus such as a cellular phone and a male coupler attached to a liquid retaining container used to supply the fuel cell with a cell solution such as methanol.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a coupler is attached to each of a cell container (liquid tank) for a fuel cell mounted in a mobile apparatus such as a cellular phone and a liquid retaining container in which a cell solution such as methanol is stored. If the cell container is to be supplied with the cell solution from the liquid retaining container, an operator joins the couplers together and then performs a supplying operation.
A system was initially adopted in which a wide-mouthed male coupler (injection port) was attached to the liquid retaining container whereas a wide-mouthed female coupler (socket) was attached to the cell container so that the cell solution from the male coupler could be injected into the female coupler.
However, in the cell container mounted in the mobile apparatus, the socket of the cell container is very small (diameter: 6 mm). Accordingly, the operator must be sufficiently careful not to spill or leak the cell solution during injection.
Methanol, the cell solution, is volatile and flammable, so that the leakage of the solution may adversely affect human beings or cause fire. Thus, means have been requested which allows every user to easily supply the solution.
Thus, a coupler having a threaded structure is conventionally attached to each of the cell container (liquid tank) of the fuel cell and the liquid retaining container in which the cell solution such as methanol is stored.
That is, a female coupler on which an internal thread is formed is attached to an inner peripheral surface of the injection port of the cell container. Further, a male coupler on which an external thread is formed is attached to an outer peripheral surface of a supply port of the cell container.
A cap is normally screwed around each of the external thread of the male coupler and the internal thread of the female coupler. These caps tightly contact the injection port of the cell container and the supply port of the liquid retaining container respectively.
For the supply of the cell solution, both caps are removed and the external thread of the male coupler is screwed into the internal thread of the female coupler. This connects the male and female coupler together to allow the cell solution from the liquid retaining container to be supplied to the cell container.
Moreover, a hook structure may be adopted as another means. That is, a plurality of tongue pieces are provided integrally on the injection port of the cell container at intervals of 120°. Pawls are provided integrally on an end surface of the supply port of the liquid retaining container at positions corresponding to the tongue pieces.
Normally, a stopper is inserted into the injection port of the cell container, and a cap closes the supply port of the liquid retaining container. That is, the injection port of the cell container and the liquid retaining container are each sealed.
For the supply of the cell solution, the stopper and the cap are removed. The pawls on the supply port are rotatively moved through 120° with respect to the tongue pieces of the liquid retaining container to engage the tongue pieces with the pawls. This connects the injection port directly to the supply port for communication. Consequently, the cell container can be supplied with the cell solution from the liquid retaining container.
In all these structures, packing is provided in desired location so as to prevent accidents such as solution leakage during the normal state or while the cell solution is being supplied.
Thus, sufficient safety measures have been taken but all these measures present a problem with the operability during the supply. That is, the threaded structure requires the liquid tank to be rotated a number of times. This is cumbersome. In this regard, the pawl structure advantageously has only to be rotatively moved through 120°. However, since the amount of this rotative movement is small, the operator may exert an excessive force to damage the pawls. Accordingly, the pawl structure is not so durable.
Further, when the fuel cell is used over a long time, a gas resulting from electrolysis is filled into the cell container to increase the pressure in the cell container. Thus, even though the female and male couplers are connected together, which are attached to the cell container and the liquid retaining container, respectively, the internal pressure of the cell container precludes the easy injection of the cell solution unless the interior of the cell container is deaerated.